AkuRoku - Wake Up
by Rae'vyn Phiar
Summary: Axel's been in a car accident and is in a medically-induced coma. Roxas is staying at the hospital while he's there and goes through the stages of grief in a way. Very sad and slightly depressing, but I've wanted to do this for a while, so... Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following. Rated M for MEDICAL STUFF AND BECAUSE OF THE MEMORIES IN CHAPTER TWO! Thanks again!
1. Chapter 1

_This one is going to be sad and a little depressing AU with Roxas kinda going through the five stages of grief. No, Axel's not dead. Just in a coma. Yep… Sorry not sorry. I've wanted to write this for a long time, so I did._

 _Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following! Please tell your friends about my content if you liked it, it may help me to find new ideas for prompts if they suggest anything! Also, please review! Anything, and I mean_ _ **anything**_ _, helps me out! And please ask for whatever you want here; I won't judge! Thanks again!_

 _Rated M for_ _ **MEDICAL**_ _ **STUFF**_ _ **AND**_ _ **JUNK**_ _! Could be T, but nah, due to the plan I have for chapter two. Teehee. I don't own Axel, Roxas, or Xion! Thanks again!_

 **AkuRoku – Wake Up – Chapter One**

Roxas glanced at the clock for the hundredth and seventh time and sighed. He was exhausted, these past three days of sitting and waiting for anything to happen here that was a good thing draining him. When this had all started, he was all adrenaline and nerves, but now… Now he was just drained.

Three days ago, he'd gotten a call when he was doing homework. He'd smiled at the number and put it on speaker so he could talk to the girl on the line while he worked. "Hey Xion. What's-?"

"It's Axel! He's in the hospital and he's hurt really bad and it was a car accident and-" The panicked girl stopped to breathe quickly, her hysterical tears making the blonde's blood go cold as his stomach dropped to the floor. "He told the EMTs that he wanted to see us, and then… He was just out cold…! You need to get over here, now!" She burst into tears as Roxas was halfway to the door, yelling the whole story to his mom as he rushed about his room for a change of clothes for an overnight stay.

The entire way to the hospital he tried to keep it together, not crying or anything for Xion's sake at least. He needed to be the strong one right now, opposite of what the situation was calling for. He stayed on the phone while he asked his mom to drive a little faster every few blocks. While his mom parked the car, he bolted to the front door and, not really knowing how hospitals worked, blurted a majority of the story to the woman at the front desk before she handed him a little pocket pack of tissues and directed him calmly to the ICU.

"I'm here," he spoke into the cell that was shaking in his hand as he fast-walked to the double doors that were marked with those blocky red letters that had sealed the trio's fate. "Where do I go?"

"Room 306. I'm in here too, with my parents. I'll stand outside so you can find it easier, okay?" Xion seemed to be a bit calmer, if a little shaky, which worried the blonde teen. Was she trying to be the strong one now? Did she know something that he didn't? He found the hallway easily and started sprinting down the tiled floor, much to some passing nurses distaste, to the door that Xion stood outside.

She caught him right before he went inside and looked at him with pain in her bloodshot eyes, red from crying. There were tear tracks down her face now, and she looked so dead tired… Roxas handed her the pocket pack of tissues and she smiled a bit before speaking. "I need to tell you something before you go in there, okay?"

Roxas cursed under his breath, but the girl paid it no mind. He was stressed-out, looking it even when he tried to hold it all in. Whenever he tried to be the strong one and carried the burdens of the people he cared about, it always showed so clearly.

"Axel… He's in a medically-induced coma to help him heal. He had to have surgery on his ribs to reconstruct them, and on his leg too. His arm's all messed up, and there's a breathing and a feeding tube… Roxas, he's not awake, and won't be for at least a few days." The way she spat out those words like they were a vile taste in her mouth made everything worse. The blonde nodded, as if he truly understood anything that was going on right now, and stepped past her after giving her a quick hug to still his nerves.

What he saw was… something he wished he'd never had to witness. The redhead was hooked up to IV lines and beeping machines, the only sounds in the room mechanical. Roxas saw the white of bandages at his collarbones and the thick ridge of a cast on his left leg underneath the blankets. His left arm was wrapped up at his side. There was a mask over his face, and a horrible tube that the blonde just wanted to rip out was shoved down his throat. Bruises covered the rest of him, covered cuts on the left side that marred his face.

No one could stop him or catch him when Roxas' legs gave out. He remembered Xion's kind mother handing him a cup of something that he drank before tears and soothing embraces that weren't helping him at all blurred the rest of that day.

Now he glanced at the clock again and sipped at the soda in his hand. This ritual was the only thing that kept him sane here, sitting in his chair and drinking his soda and thinking about things. Anything, really. He seldom glanced at the man in the bed with the beeping machines and feeding lines attached to him. He didn't want to take this all in yet, preferring to exist in the reality that his rituals created…

"I brought you a sandwich…" He glanced up and met Xion's calm eyes, then glanced down at the paper plate with a nasty-looking sandwich on it. He was sure it was probably good, but he didn't think he could stomach something like that right now, even after two days of eating nothing but a few bites of this and that that Xion and his mom brought him.

"Thanks…" The girl gazed at his eyes as he turned his face to the redhead in that bed again, seeing the fear and the pain and the regret clear in his irises before touching his shoulder.

"Hey, he's gonna he okay. Don't worry 'bout that." She didn't think it was possible, but those sapphire eyes once again filled with tears and he slumped forward into her shoulder, his limp grasp on her waist showing how weak inside he was right now. "Your guy's gonna be okay, Roxas…"

But even her endless promises didn't console him entirely…


	2. Chapter 2

_This chapter was written right after the first, so sorry if it sounds a bit rushed or anything. I tried to blend the AU world with the canon world a little bit, so sorry if the facts are weird too. It's just how I thought of it all, so… And this chapter was very emotional for me too, so yeah._

 _Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following! Please tell your friends about my content if you liked it, it may help me to find new ideas for prompts if they suggest anything! Also, please review! Anything, and I mean_ _ **anything**_ _, helps me out! And please ask for whatever you want here; I won't judge! Thanks again!_

 _Rated M for_ _ **MEMORIES O**_ _f_ _ **A YAOI NATURE!**_ _I don't own Xion, Axel, Roxas, Sora, or Riku, nor do I own Kingdom Hearts. Thanks again!_

 **AkuRoku – Wake Up – Chapter Two**

By the fifth day, the breathing tube was out and the meds were gone, but somehow Axel was still in that horrible state of his coma. It was torture to have to leave him alone in there with those doctors when they changed his bandages and stuff, knowing that he didn't know what was going on any more than the blonde understood. It was torture not understanding why the doctors didn't know why he was still in that coma.

Roxas was let back into the room by a nurse who patted his shoulder in a mock sense of comfort. She didn't know about them like the teen did, he knew that at least. She knew nothing of what they were together, and what they and Xion were like as friends.

Sitting unceremoniously in his chair again, he began sipping his soda again and watched the clock while he thought. These thoughts were so different than the ones from before. Before, he tried to trick his mind, to deny everything that had gone wrong with the world since this all began. He tried to deny that fact that his partner was still trapped in that bed…

His eyes blurred with tears, and he just let them fall as he remembered… well, everything.

He remembered the first time he'd met Axel, through Demyx and Zexion. He was just a strange loner whose occupation was unknown until Roxas asked and he answered with "I'll do anything for cash." Roxas had given him a weird glance before the redhead laughed and threw the teen's hood over his head. "Nah, I just do odd jobs around town sometimes. Mostly repair work." The two had shared a laugh together, and it was the first time he'd seen Axel smile in his wicked way…

The next memory that came to mind was the first time he'd tried that sea-salt ice-cream that the elder man favored over most everything. They'd gone to the little corner ice-cream place that knew the redhead by name and bought a few bars, walking around the streets and eating them. Axel had explained the 'Winner' stick thing to him and said that it was rare to get one.

He remembered the time he brought Xion to meet him. She'd been really shy and anti-social since moving to their little town, but Axel helped her open up and actually begin to talk. She'd had the same reaction to trying the ice-cream too.

His face grew a little warm as he remembered the first time Axel kissed him, sitting on the sidewalk by the pier and watching the sunset. He'd made a comment on how red was his favorite color and then looked at him and… then it just happened. Roxas felt a twinge in his heart as he traced his lower lip a few times with the tab of his soda can before taking another sip.

The teen's face went pink as he remembered the first time they'd actually taken their make-outs to the final and most exhilarating step. He recalled the memory as nothing but bliss and heat, because when he was with Axel, nothing like pain had ever existed…

Until now…

When Axel's body was here but he was long gone, it was like he was entirely gone. It hurt…

Roxas clutched at his heart and wrapped his arms around himself, wanting the elder to wake up so that he could hold him as he took in that thought… Axel… He wasn't awake, and he wasn't here to make him stop hurting inside…

"Roxas?" A calm, clear voice cut through the fog and he looked up to see a brunette boy, a dark-haired girl, and a taller, silver-haired boy standing before him. A small bag was in the taller boy's hand, probably food that the blonde didn't care for right now. "Sorry about what's happened, but mom's getting worried about you."

"Sora…" Roxas said, speaking through his teeth. His fear and uncertainty and pain boiled up and he lashed out in rage and that same chilling, numbing fear. "When you have someone whom you love, let me know when they get hurt like this so I can tell you that mom's worried about you. Because right now, I know that that guy in that bed needs someone here for him, and I'm going to be that person, okay…? I want to be here when he wakes up, no matter how long it takes, okay…?!"

He was shaking, he was so… What would he call this? Not anger, not fear, not pain. A mix of them all that made his stomach want to get rid of his last meal and his head hurt and his body heat up. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

"Just tell mom that I'll be home soon, okay…?" His voice gave out and Riku reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please…? I just… I need to be here…"

"We get it," the tall boy said gently, flicking a few strands of hair out of his eyes. "We all feel for you and for Axel too. We all feel horrible for what has happened, and it hurts a lot to know that some of us are suffering more than others. It really sucks, y'know? But we're just a little worried about you. You look, well… You look like hell, Roxas. When was the last time you slept?"

Roxas opened his mouth and then shook his head. "I haven't really slept, and when I have, it's only been for a few hours before I wake up…" He put his head in his hands and looked at his feet. "Can you guys just go away…? I just want to be alone for a little longer."

"Okay." Xion's hand ran through his hair as the tears stopped falling.

Those memories wouldn't stop resurfacing, but Roxas knew that if he lost the memories of Axel, then he'd truly be gone forever…


	3. Chapter 3

_So… I cried while writing this. Some of it hit close to my personal life, so it was kinda heart-wrenching to write the depression parts because I have legitimately felt exactly what Roxas feels here. But the ending is so nice that it makes up for it all! Hope you enjoy this! This is the last chapter, by the way, so please don't ask for more!_

 _Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following! Please tell your friends about my content if you liked it, it may help me to find new ideas for prompts if they suggest anything! Also, please review! Anything, and I mean_ _ **anything**_ _, helps me out! And please ask for whatever you want here; I won't judge! Thanks again!_

 _Rated M for_ _ **YAOI KISSES AND FEELS!**_ _I don't own Axel, Roxas, Xion, or Riku, nor Kingdom Hearts! Thanks again!_

 **AkuRoku – Wake Up – Chapter Three**

The blonde boy was drained of everything he was. He was a shell of himself as the week ended and he was still awake in the wee hours of the eighth day's morning. There were bags under his eyes and his cheeks were a little sunken-in when he looked at himself in the mirror, and he'd only showered when the doctor told him to last night. His hair was still wet, and the change of clothes his mom had brought him didn't keep out the chill.

Xion and Riku had begun to take shifts waiting outside the door to look after him at his mom's wishes, just to make sure he was okay and safe and stuff…

He sipped his soda and thought about what he could have done to stop all of this from happening. Could he have called Axel and had him come over to his house? Could Xion done that to stop him from doing to work at one of his odd jobs? That's where Axel was going before a car that didn't see the stop light t-boned his driver's side. At least the other driver had put their foot on the brake for the most part, or it would've been likely that Axel would've… That he would've been lying in a casket rather than a hospital bed…

That thought made the blonde teen explode in hysterical tears. That mental image of the redhead dressed up in a black suit with a red tie, quiet and stony-faced in a wooden box being lowered into the earth… It made his heart sink lower than it already was.

"Roxas!" Xion exclaimed, running into the room as the boy stood on shaking legs which then fell out from underneath him, reaching with trembling fingers to the hand resting on the sheets that wasn't in the cast. She caught the boy and pulled him back, feeling his hands drop and his heart-wrenching sobs of heartbreak and complete loss wreak havoc on his weakened body. It was all she could do to hold him and gaze at Axel in grief. "Roxas…"

"It's like he's dead!" he bitterly sobbed, repeating this over and over again with shuddering cries. It took a solid hour for him to calm down, and even then he was holding a lot of it inside. "It's like he's not even here anymore, Xion… Why is he not here anymore…?"

"I don't know…" She leaned back from him as he drew away, standing fully with stone-hard eyes. Something had changed inside of him, something that she didn't understand... "Roxas?"

"Give me a few more minutes. I'll be out in a few more minutes, okay?" These stony, hard words shocked the girl, but she let her hand linger on his shoulder before nodding and closing the door behind her.

Roxas stared at the closed eyes and the calm expression on Axel's face. A few lingering tears rolled from his cheeks to the white linens as he took the elder's tanned hand in his and bent to lower his lips to his ear, whispering to him.

"If you're still fighting in there to wake up, I just want some sort of sign. I don't want to waste time anymore. I just want you back… I want you back, Axel, so just wake up, please… Move your hand. A twitch, one finger; I don't care. Just give me something so I know that you're still in there… Please, Axel… I need you to wake up…"

He was begging for an outcome that was so slim, willing for anything to happen as he begged more and more for the impossible to happen. Nothing moved, the redhead staying as still as he was before, save for the steady, slow rise and fall of his chest and the flare of his nostrils as he breathed.

"If you don't wake up… then I'm going to go home…" Roxas' tears dried up and he grew still inside as he kissed the elder's cheek for the last time, drew away and looked at their hands. It hurt… to pull his hand away from the motionless one. He turned around and with shivering shoulders, took his soda can and threw it away before slipping his phone in his pocket and walking toward the door.

"Mmm…" A soft noise rose from the room, and the blonde shook his head, his hands trembling as his mind drew the quickest conclusion it could. He turned around slowly and gazed at emerald eyes that were opened in slits, Axel's right hand searching for purchase in a small radius of motion. "R… ox…" His voice was low and raspy, but it was him. He managed a weak smile and then winced. "Ow…"

Roxas walked over to his side slowly in unbelief, his breathing slow and even now as he took the elder's hand and felt him squeeze back. Tears streamed down his face as he locked eyes with the redhead. "Do you know where you are?"

"Bed… Hos… pital… Told… them to… get you…" He spoke haltingly and winced a lot when he did. "Xi…on…?"

"She's here too. You want me to get her?"

Axel closed his eyes and shook his head very slightly. "No… Wanted… to see… you first…" He gripped the teen's hand and didn't let go for the longest time, even when the rest of their company came in and doctors too, testing him to see if he was fully conscious and nothing mentally was off.

Once everyone had left the room after about an hour or so, Axel smiled in that wicked away of his again and made a slight gesture for the teen to come closer. He met their lips briefly and smiled against his mouth.

"Love you…"

Roxas cried a little more, for the last time in a long time. It wasn't in pain, but in joy and hope and love. His breathing was shivery as he spoke too, the elder touching the side of his face weakly. It felt like the weight came off his shoulders when the redhead touched his cheek, the pad of his thumb brushing his lower lip gently.

"I love you too…"


End file.
